TEMAN te’ mən (תֵּימָ֣ן, south or southern quarter).

1. Person. Grandson of Esau and his Hitt. wife, Adah (Gen 36:11; 1 Chron 1:36). His importance is indicated as the eldest son of Esau.

2. Place. Name of a town or tribe in the northern part of Edom (Jer 49:20; Ezek 25:13). One suggestion for the location of Teman is modern Tawilan, about three m. E of Petra. Excavations at Tawilan indicate a large Edomite fortification. The abundance of Early Iron I-II (1200-600 b.c.) pottery suggests that the site was quite important, possibly the largest city in the central area of Edom. The area around Tawilan is well-watered, fertile, and served as the meeting place of significant trade routes in ancient as well as in modern times. According to Genesis 36:34, Husham, the Temanite, ruled as king in Edom before there were kings in Israel.

The inhabitants of Teman were noted for their wisdom (Jer 49:7; Obad 8ff.). The nature and content of this wisdom are unknown. Eliphaz, one of Job’s comforters, was a Temanite (Job 2:11f.). One of the chieftains in Edom was Teman (Gen 36:42).

Many of the prophets included Teman in their oracles against Edom (Jer 49:20; Ezek 25:13; Amos 1:12; Obad 9), and all declared that Teman would be destroyed. Teman and Dedan, opposite boundary cities, are usually mentioned together in the oracles. Habakkuk 3:3 refers to a vision in which he saw God coming from the region of Sinai and marching toward Edom as He did in the Exodus (Deut 33:2). In the OT the word teman in ordinary use merely meant “south” as a direction.